Cyber Week 2025, spanning Black Friday to Cyber Monday, set new benchmarks for ecommerce. This year, consumers demonstrated a sustained appetite for online deals and new sales channels. Riskified experienced substantial growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) during Cyber Week 2025 across its global merchant network compared to the same period in 2024.

Tickets & Travel, General Merchandise, and Electronics led the top-performing industries, indicating that consumers continue to prioritize memorable experiences and high-value tech purchases during this critical sales window.

Consumer adoption of agentic shopping

Beyond the increased volume, the rapid adoption of AI technology in the shopping experience has been one of the most remarkable shifts. Consumers increasingly turn to AI to streamline everything from product searches to personalized recommendations, reshaping how they engage with brands and complete transactions. Riskified found that LLM-referred traffic was 3x higher across its network on Black Friday compared to the daily average in November.

Early evidence also underscores the potential of merchant-led AI ecosystems. TechCrunch reported that on Black Friday, Amazon saw a doubling of purchase-related sessions when customers used Rufus, its proprietary AI shopping assistant, versus just a 20% lift without it. This signals that thoughtfully implemented AI tools may drive substantial conversion during peak periods.

However, with increased AI engagement comes new challenges. Operational and risk teams must evolve their strategies as fraudsters seek to exploit new digital touchpoints and shifting consumer behaviors.

Fraud attempts during Cyber Week

The holiday sales season is a double-edged sword for ecommerce merchants. While the surge in orders anchored by BFCM is a major revenue driver and an opportune time to provide new and returning customers with great promotions and premium experiences, it also places immense strain on fraud management and customer experience teams. The sheer volume of transactions creates a fertile ground for card-not-present (CNP) fraud, as bad actors attempt to blend in with legitimate shoppers.

This year, the Electronics and Cosmetics industries stood out at Riskified not only for their substantial order volume growth but also for notable spikes in fraud attempts. In the Cosmetics sector, fraud grew at a faster rate than overall sales (fraudulent transaction growth outpaced the general increase in sales volume), an unusual trend for peak seasons. Meanwhile, the Electronics industry experienced a sharp rise in both legitimate and fraudulent transaction attempts, though the growth in fraud remained below the overall increase in volume. Both industries also registered higher Average Order Values (AOV), suggesting that consumers were either purchasing more items per transaction or opting for higher-priced products.

This BFCM period also highlighted an increasing sophistication of organized fraud. Riskified tracked coordinated attempts, particularly in Electronics, targeting popular, high-value devices through account takeovers (ATOs), large PayPal transactions, and accelerated store pickup logistics. Orders exhibiting red flags often displayed warning signs such as mismatched billing and shipping details, suspicious network activity, or reused shipping IDs.

These trends underscore the importance of vigilant monitoring and swift action during peak sales periods, particularly as we are in the midst of what is perhaps the first AI-powered holiday season.

With real-time insights, Riskifed helps merchants refine their fraud prevention strategies, better protect their businesses, and maximize legitimate sales. In today’s competitive landscape, success hinges on leveraging an AI-powered fraud and risk intelligence platform that can accurately distinguish genuine customers from fraudsters while adapting to shifting consumer behaviors.

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